Here is What I Know About Grief

Here is what I know about grief: It hits you like a tidal wave when you least expect it. It wells up inside and grabs your heart and squeezes it until it hurts beyond measure. It promises to ache for a very long time which feels like it is going to be for an eternity. And it brings a crazy kind of comfort when you can reminisce and connect with your loved one through shared memories. It swallows you in the dead of the quiet of the night. It relieves you of the tension that builds up from holding in the tears all day long. It offers you solace for the gaping hole in your heart that cannot be filled because someone so foundational to your life is no longer present. It is the salve for the soreness that runs throughout your body. Grief is necessary, hard, demanding, and unpredictable. And it is relieving, honoring, loving, and a testimony to the love that has been lost in the person we no longer have with us. My mother Elda Marie died two weeks ago and she in her death continues to be my teacher in life. Bless her heart and my families’ and bless yours if you are in the midst of your own healing.